Missing something: Kobe Bryant has the ball knocked loose by Boris Diaw, left, as he attempts to drive to the basket. MATT YORK, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHOENIX - If the giveaway in Sacramento is going to be the learning experience that Coach Phil Jackson hopes for the Lakers, it apparently will take more than 24 hours for the lessons to sink in.

The Lakers were routed Friday night, 106-93, by the Phoenix Suns in a game that reflected the superior depth of the Pacific Division-leading Suns, now 51/2 games ahead of the Lakers.

Rather than stay in their offensive structure, the Lakers got caught up in a freestyle game led by reigning MVP Steve Nash (17 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds). The result was just the second time since the first two weeks of the season the Lakers lost by more than 10 points, a span of 33 games.

Kobe Bryant kept competing, even after he grew frustrated with 2:29 left in what was at the time a scoreless third quarter for him. With the Lakers down, 73-57, Bryant drew a technical foul for passing the ball sharply toward referee Ed Malloy.

Bryant, despite showing fatigue late in the third after scoring the Lakers' last five points, still played all but the last 49.9 seconds of the second half and finished with 37 points on 12-of-33 shooting.

Bryant's frustration was evident at the end of the third, when after not getting the ball from Luke Walton on the Lakers' last possession, Bryant slammed a towel down as he reached the bench.

Jackson - who opened his postgame news conference with "Can we go home now?" - said the back-to-back losses can still be a learning experience, but "it all depends on how they want to deal with the adversity."

"We've got to learn from this," Bryant said. "You don't want to repeat the same mistakes."

Of his cold shooting, Bryant said: "It just wasn't falling for me."

Said Suns guard Raja Bell: "Our game plan was to contain everyone else and hope that what Kobe ended up with wouldn't beat all 12 of our guys combined."

LATE-GAME ODOM

The blowout reinforced the Lakers' disappointment at squandering a five-point lead in the last 35.5 seconds of regulation in Sacramento, a sadness Jackson had tried to minimize in telling his players Friday that their overall performance was good enough to win.

But the Friday night blowout also meant Lamar Odom didn't get another chance to operate in critical late-game situations, the period where Odom faltered badly in Sacramento. It's unclear even to Jackson how many more times Odom will get the ball in such situations in the future.

"That's still a role that I'm not totally comfortable that he's ready to elevate to the point where he becomes a person who is always in those events or is always playing the peripheral part of it," Jackson said.

For now, though, Jackson is giving Odom the ball to see if he can improve as a late-game decision-maker. Even after Odom's costly offensive foul with 22 seconds left in regulation Thursday, Jackson gave Odom the ball again on the last possession of regulation instead of using Bryant; Odom missed a three-pointer.

"Just to give him an opportunity to redeem himself," said Jackson, who added that taking the ball away from Odom immediately would be "debilitating. That's lack of confidence."

One of Jackson's memories of Odom from years past, though, is Odom taking an ill-advised three-pointer as a Clipper against Jackson's Lakers.

NATIONAL NEWS

When Bryant told The Register on Dec. 23 that he was chosen for the next national team, he became the first player publicly identified. It was formally announced Friday by Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo.

Bryant is looking forward to time in Asia, where he has visited, saying: "I love the culture over there; I love the people over there."

Bryant met with Colangelo on Friday, as did Odom, who also hopes to be picked for the team. Odom said his meeting of about 15 minutes "went well."

"I won't know until he's done with whatever he has got to do," Odom said of his chances of making the team. "We talked about the last time I went. I told him how cool it was and how I would like to go again."

In the past, Jackson has expressed concern over his players expending energy in international competition and compared it Friday to logging extra postseason games.

"We have to face that fact with our players that we're going to cut them short a little bit," he said. "You take a year off their careers."

But regarding Colangelo's desire for a three-year commitment, Jackson said: "They've done the right thing, I think, in making the players commit to giving a couple of years to the national team so that they can build a connected unit."

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